Javarous Dawson v. State

The defendant appeals his sentence for first-degree murder. He argues that, pursuant to Miller v. Alabama, — U.S.—, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012), the trial court erred in sentencing him, as a minor, to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and that a new sentencing hearing contemplated by Miller must occur on remand. We agree.

In Miller, the United States Supreme Court held:

[T]he Eighth Amendment forbids a sentencing scheme that mandates life in prison without possibility of parole for juvenile offenders. ... Although we do not foreclose a sentencer’s ability to make that…